Aggregates Manager

September 2013

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OPERATIONSExperience
ILLUSTRATED
Voices of
Chad Ferguson
C
t
essford Construction, a Burlington,
Iowa-based Oldcastle Materials
company, has built its operation
mining smaller quarries and moving its
plants several times a year. "The life of our
aggregate business has been built with the
use of portable plants," says Operations
Manager Chad Ferguson. "We have 12
locations, 10 of which are limestone quarries, spread out around 150 to 170 miles.
We have two portable crushing plants, one
of which is larger and the other smaller, and
we move each of them at least four or five
times a season."
Ferguson says shutdown, teardown,
transport, and setup of smaller plants can
be completed in three days, under normal
conditions and a typical site. "Ten years ago,
a similar move would have taken five or six
days," he notes. While the larger plant takes a
little more time to tear down and set back up,
modern features, such as as hydraulic leveling jacks and on-plant conveyors, save hours
of work. "The benefits add up," he says.
Ferguson notes careful organization is
key to a successful move. In addition to
lists and proper order of plants, ancillary
equipment such as dumpsters, man lifts,
and fuel shouldn't be overlooked. The new
site should be prepped, and producers may
consider drilling and shooting before the
plant's arrival onsite.
"Make sure you have your permits in
place for your heavy loads," he advises.
"Permitting can stop the show, if you
haven't prepared.
"You have to have help," Ferguson adds.
"We schedule maintenance personnel to
help with repairs and set up. This way, the
burden of the setup isn't placed on just
those three or five guys who are going to be
running the plant."
And always, before each task, it is very
important to take the time to discuss the
safety issues that could arise, he says, adding, "Gather around and talk them over as
a group."
Paul Brandt
P
t
roducers must keep many things
in mind during a plant move, says
Paul Brandt, territory manager for
Denver, Colo.-based Power Equipment
Co. Not all of these items are obvious to a
casual observer.
"You have to line out and schedule
your trucks; that's a given. You sometimes
have to arrange for things such as cribbing
and possibly a crane. You want to make
sure your site is prepped before the plants
arrive, but you also can't forget to plan for
stockpiles, loader ramps, even the prevailing wind direction," he says.
In the West Central region of the United
States, smaller aggregates operations
serviced by portable plants are the rule,
rather than the exception. Many of Brandt's
customers move six or eight times a year.
He says newer plants with components
like run-on jacks and onboard conveyors
have made moves more efficient and setup
quicker and safer, but can create other
considerations for a move.
"Manufacturers are always looking to
design the better 'mouse trap,' and dealers
help to make sure that mouse trap works
in a specific region. So, for instance, axle
weight limits differ between states. If you're
going to move between states, you have
to know what the regulations are. For
example, in Wyoming, you're allowed up to
74,000 pounds on quad axles, and in Colorado that number is 72,000. If your plant
weighs in at 73,000, and it was built for
Wyoming, you would be okay. But if you
wanted to transport the same plant into
Colorado, you'd need a booster axle — and
the forethought of building this plant with
a booster setup," Brandt explains.
Additionally, some states consider
catwalks and handrails to be "loose"
components on a plant. This means,
while the plant might be built with these
components onboard, a state may require
that they be removed and transported on a
separate load.
Dave McLaughlin
D
t
ave McLaughlin, major accounts
director for KPI-JCI and Astec
Mobile Screens, feels looking at
the big picture is imperative for a company's success in operating portable plants
that serve multiple locations.
For instance, planning ahead for a portable plant move should include not only
what will be required for the move itself,
but also why the plant is being moved
at this specific time, he says. "Producers should consider moving days versus
production days — reducing the former to
increase the latter — and that's important.
But planning and adjusting for changing
market requirements are also important.
Each producer should evaluate sites and
determine, 'How much finished product
do I need at this site, this site, and this site?'
If you don't plan right, you're not making
enough of the right products; your inventory will be out of balance," he explains.
McLaughlin says poor planning can create major issues if a producer has to bring
a plant back to a site to produce additional
material to meet market demand.
"Today's portable plants are designed
to require fewer employees to operate efficiently. But don't reduce your workforce
too much. The money you save in wages
goes away fast when there's downtime,"
McLaughlin notes, adding that good preventive maintenance is also a key ingredient
in maintaining plant uptime and availability.
He explains that using production
personnel to handle maintenance can
sometimes backfire. "I've learned that
good operators are not necessarily good
mechanics," he notes. "And if you have
an operator running the plant five days
a week, for 10 hours a day, do you really
want that same operator doing maintenance on a Saturday?"
In short, McLaughlin offers his favorite
motto: "Formulate a plan, revise as market
conditions change, and always consider
the end goal."
Aggregates Manager
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